1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable structure of a rear view mirror. In particular, the invention relates to a structure of a rear view mirror with an adjustable mirror curvature.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
On various vehicles (such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and etc.), the rear view mirror is a standard piece equipment. Using a car as an example, an inner rear view mirror and side rear view mirrors are usually equipped to help the driver be aware of situations behind and beside the car for increased safety during driving. However, due to the limited viewing angle of an ordinary rear view mirror, the driver encounters blind spots. To overcome this drawback, rear view mirrors with increased viewing angles are continuously presented in the market.
For example, in FIG. 1, a conventional rear view mirror 10 comprises a mirror 11 for providing a rear view visual with an ordinary viewing angle. Furthermore, a small convex reflective mirror 13 can be mounted onto the mirror 11. Since the convex reflective mirror 13 has a curvature, drivers can partially have a wide viewing angle effect. By attaching the convex mirror to an ordinary mirror, the driver benefits from the combination of the ordinary viewing angle of the mirror 11 and the wide viewing angle of the convex reflective mirror 13. As a result, the rear visuals are improved, creating a wider viewing angle with respect to cars from the side and behind for enhancing driving safety. Additionally, this mirror setup allows for a better view of the rear interior in the car in order to monitor the situations in the back-seat.
The abovementioned convex reflective mirror 13 can also be replaced by using a fixed rear view mirror with a set wide viewing angle and a large size. This fixed rear view mirror can be clipped onto the rear view mirror which has been originally equipped in the car to fully substitute the original rear view mirror.
Nevertheless, all of the current conventional designs do not simultaneously fulfill all of a user's particular requirements. Because the seat postures, heights, requirements for viewing angle, and usage habits are different between different drivers, the drivers have no choice but to use conventional rear view mirrors with certain limitations. The different habits between the drivers can not merely be fully satisfied by manually adjusting the angle of the rear view mirror 10 after the driver has entered the vehicle. Furthermore, not every driver is accustomed to the combined image (a large portion of a flat image with a small portion of a wide angle image) that is associated with the small convex reflective mirror 13 affixed to the mirror 11, as seen in the rear view mirror 10.
In addition, the adjustments on the conventional rear view mirror 10 only allow for horizontal and vertical rotation. The viewing angle of the mirror 11 is not adjustable so as to bring more limitations in use.
Given the above, a novel structure of a rear view mirror with an adjustable curvature needs to be developed in this field.